Knight In The Moonlight's Shadow
by TheArchon
Summary: Because of a ludicrous incident, Sharona is unable to fight in the Lily Five's next match and Ryu is all to blame. Will he be able to repent and become Sharona's protector? RyuXSharona. Chapter 4 Updated!
1. His Guilt

**Ryu X Sharona**

_**Knight In The Moonlight's Shadow**_

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**From the Author:** This will be the only Lily Five X Yoh Group fic which isn't a one-shot. Enjoy!  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Shaman King I don't even think about claiming that I own it.

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**Chapter One: **His Guilt

Sharona let out a sigh of boredom. She gracefully placed her hand under her head and leaned her cheek on her palm, as she watched a group of young lads sweating their asses off. These lads were none other than the team members of the Funbari Onsen team and team The Ren. While outside the arena and not fighting in the Shaman Fight, these guys were best buddies who stuck together wherever they went. Or at least most of the time.

The current occasion for their cohesion was Anna, who had summoned both teams for their usual training routine, which consisted of back-breaking training and physical overtaxing for long hours without a single moment taken for a break. Anna's training was more than enough to exhaust an experienced athlete, but Yoh and the others were enduring it without uttering a single word of complaint. It was useless to whine; Anna was not going to pay any attention to their grievances; she was just going to make it ten times harder for them.

Sharona was staring at the tallest, most mature member of the group: Ryu. The huge man with dangling pompadour hairdo and goatee was grinning like an idiot and jogging most vigorously with his weights attached to his limbs. Showing Anna signs that you enjoyed your training was by no means in your benefit; she would only grant your cooperation by doubling and tripling the weights and increasing your laps from 20 to 40. However, the woman noticed something odd in Ryu's behavior. He seemed to be… very happy, for some reason. He was completely oblivious to anything that happened around him, to his own body and to the torment of his fellows. The man outran Yoh and kept running faster and faster, grinning and laughing to something only he knew. He unbuttoned his sweaty shirt and threw it behind him, which slapped straight into Horo Horo's face. Ryu was completely bare-chested under it.

Sharona cocked her eyebrows in surprise and amazement. Damn! That guy was running with the speed of a galloping horse! Even Anna was staring wide-eyed at him! Sharona had never beheld something as incredible as this. She groped across the table and got a grip around the glass of orange juice she was sipping on. She was so concentrated on the sprinting Ryu that some of the juice missed her mouth and dripped down her chin, staining her dress and snapping her out of her trance. She leaped from her chair and cursed, then desperately tried to rub the juice off her dress. It was to no avail, of course. She had to get back to the lodgings, where she would have to wash the dress herself. And she loved that dress, it was her favorite!

_"Well, I suppose I can do with that horrible white dress with flowers Ellie gave me for a couple of days."_ Sharona thought gloomily as she stood from her chair and was about to leave the café. She had already paid the waitress and hopefully, she wouldn't have to go through the humiliation of appearing before that stuck-up bitch with that orange stain on her dress. Now, if she could only find something to hide it, till she gets back to the lodgings… Maybe she could use her handbag to hide it…

"Hi, Sharona!"

The blonde froze stiff in her pace. She slowly turned around. It was surprising that the vertebrae of her neck didn't creak like the rusty hinges of a door.

Three people stood behind her. The first was Tamao Tamamura, the cute shy pink-haired girl with her two perverted spirits; the second was Lyserg Diethyl, the green-haired dowser and Millie's not-so-secret crush. The last one was Manta Omayada, a short, young, rather intelligent kid, who was the former unofficial mascot of Yoh's group. All three of them now participated in the Shaman Fight as an official separate team under the name of 'Team Pendulum'.

Tamao, the one who greeted Sharona, waved a hand at her. The blonde made a bitter smile.

"Oh, crap…" She muttered to herself. Then she put on a cheery, friendly smile and grinned: "Hello, there! Long time no see, Tamao."

"Anna told us to come with the others for the training. We saw you when passing by and thought about saying 'Hello'." – Manta said affably.

"_What a bad timing."_ Sharona thought gloomily. She rummaged through her vocabulary for a polite response for the current situation, but her mind was pretty blank right now. All she uttered was:

"Soooo… I heard you were also participating in the Shaman Fight."

Lyserg nodded.

"I am in gratitude to Yoh-kun for helping me so much last year. I'll be of better use to him and everyone else if I rejoin the Shaman Fight."

Tamao added:

"And seeing as Manta's skills and mine have improved a lot over the last few months, we decided to join, too."

Though at any other time and in any other occasion Sharona would be happy to chat with these folks, right now she was searching for a way to end this conversation as soon as possible.

"Yeah, that's nice." She mumbled diplomatically. "Well, I wish you good luck in the fight!"

"Thanks a lot, Sharona!" Manta grinned. "I only hope that we won't meet on the arena; I'll be having hard time fighting you."

"Yeah, so do I…" Sharona felt that the moment was upon her and used the opportunity to make her escape. "Now, if you excuse me, I gotta—"

"Hey, have you seen Millie-chan recently?" Lyserg suddenly asked.

Sharona stopped, just as she had turned around and was about to scamper away, and looked at him.

"Why, yes, I see her every day in our lodges." She answered coldly. "Why are you asking?"

Lyserg turned pensive and uttered:

"We were supposed to meet yesterday at the fun-fair, but she wasn't there…"

Sharona was sweating now. They could see that spot of orange juice on her dress any moment now!

"She was… with… Ellie yesterday." Sharona extemporized. She honestly had no idea where the hell Millie had been yesterday. "They had to buy souvenirs from the shop aaaaand some new clothes. Well, now, I—"

"If you see her today, will you tell her to meet me at the Patch Diner tomorrow morning?" Lyserg interrupted her once again.

Sharona glared at him witheringly but managed to reply in a composed tone:

"Yes, I will. I'll make sure not to forget."

The blonde clutched her handbag and ran as fast as she could towards her lodgings, which were five streets away from here. A group of puzzled Manta, Tamao and Lyserg were left behind to stare at the diminishing cloud of dust in the distance.

"She looks like she's in a real hurry." Manta noted thoughtfully.

After a short moment of silence, during which Manta was scratching his head, Tamao mentioned:

"Did anyone notice that there was an orange spot on her dress?"

Sharona couldn't stand filth. She would never allow herself to go out with a dress that had a single spot on her. She considered herself a beautiful, elegant woman, who had to wear beautiful, elegant, and of course – CLEAN – clothes. There was no way she would ever spoil the image she worked so hard on accomplishing.

This was the reason why she ran so fast towards her lodgings. And that was the reason why she completely forgot that she was going to cross through Anna's training area, through which the guys were supposed to make another lap. It was incredibly unfortunate for Sharona that Ryu, who was running far ahead of the group, ran straight into her and knocked her down on the ground.

He blinked. The man quickly realized that he was lying on top of Sharona, who was beginning to choke. Without much hesitation, he got off her with a leap for two main reasons: He was about to kill her and people might think of something indecent when seeing him bare-chested and lying on top of Sharona. The woman groaned in pain. She took a sitting position and coughed out some dust that had entered her lungs. Ryu offered her a hand to stand up.

"I'm sorry!" – He apologized worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Sharona looked at him. She saw a towering brawny giant standing in front of her. His large shadow was completely concealing her. The woman raised her hand and weakly gripped at Ryu's large palm. He carefully closed his hand and slowly pulled her up.

"_I've never imagined he'd be so gentle and so strong at the same time." _Sharona thought with surprise.

She stepped on her feet and let go of his hand. She desperately brushed the dust off her dress. The fact that dirt had stuck to the stained spot of orange juice didn't make her feel any better.

"I'm sorry about your dress." Ryu apologized meekly. "It's my fault this happened."

Sharona realized she was blushing. All that attention she received from Ryu was stirring something inside her that made her feel dizzy and so unbelievingly embarrassed at the same time. She exclaimed:

"No, don't worry! I… I'll get this dress cleaned in no time! I just have to…"

Sharona chose to cut out her pointless rambling and just go on her way already. She stepped forth with her right foot, but when she set her left one on the ground, she winced and groaned when a sharp pain pierced her ankle. Sharona was about to fall on the ground when Ryu's hand shot forth and grabbed her arm. He leaned her arm over his shoulder so that she can support herself on him.

"Your leg seems hurt." – He noted anxiously.

Sharona bit her lip. It appeared that her 'close encounter' with Ryu had ended up with something more than a dirtier dress. Her ankle hurt like hell.

"I'm fine." She babbled out, even though this was a blatant lie. She tried to step on her sprained her leg, but this only caused her more pain. Ryu clearly saw her reaction and frowned like a parent at his mischievous child.

"No, you're not!" He stated. "I'm taking you to the Patch hospital!"

Sharona cursed mentally. She couldn't believe that her day had turned out to be so bad. Despite her desperate pleas to leave her and her unconvincing assurances that she was fine, Ryu walked her all the way to the hospital.

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Ellie stared in disbelief.

"They're in the hospital!?" She exclaimed in shock.

"Yes." Ren confirmed seriously. "It seems Ryu had accidentally ran into Sharona after making that sharp turn near the souvenir shop."

"That numskull!" Sally roared out in boiling anger. "I'll beat the crap out of him!"

Manta raised his hands worriedly, trying to calm down the infuriated woman.

"There's no need to react so violently, Sally! I'm sure Ryu didn't mean to hurt Sharona like that!"

Sally leaned over the small boy and glowered at him. Manta recoiled in fear.

"How the hell are we supposed to participate in the Shaman Fights without our leader!? We are one member less and there's no telling how long it will take for her injuries to heal!"

Anna said in a nonchalant manner:

"You can explain the situation to a Priest and easily have one of your group who hasn't fought yet substitute for Sharona."

The expressions on the girls' faces clearly showed that they weren't aware of this option.

"So the team members aren't fixed?" Lilly ascertained in surprise.

"Of course they aren't." Yoh guaranteed with a smile. "This is a new rule that the Patch Council passed when the Shaman Fight was started over. When one of your team members is ill, too tired or too injured to fight, he can have a replacement to cover up for him until he recuperates."

A sigh of relief escaped the Lilies' mouths.

"Thank God!" Ellie spoke. "Now we won't have to worry about having to fight with one member less."

Anna raised an eyebrow haughtily.

"Didn't you know about this rule?" She asked in a luke-warm voice.

There was a mutual sweat-drop among the remaining Lilies.

"Ugh…" Ellie drawled embarrassedly. "We didn't have time to get acquainted with all the new rules in detail."

After a short silence, Anna murmured without much interest:

"I'm sure you didn't."

Yoh tried to make up for Anna's lack of sensitivity by changing the topic:

"We'll be going to the hospital to see how Sharona is. Won't you come with us?"

"Of course!" Ellie exclaimed determinedly. "We can't let Sharona sit there all alone after what she's been through!"

"I think Ryu is still there to keep her company." Yoh added.

"Then I say we'd get going!" Sally stated with a frown. "There's no telling what that guy might do to her next."

Half a minute later, the door of the lodging closed behind them, with only Manta's voice complaining about how hard Sally was judging Ryu.

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A doctor at the hospital confirmed that Sharona had bruised her ankle. Hopefully, the injury wasn't too serious and Sharona's ankle was just bandaged. However, the doctor insisted that she doesn't participate in Shaman Fights until her ankle healed.

Ryu sat on a chair opposite the bed where Sharona was lying and having her ankle bandaged by the nurse. He was staring at the doctor, the nurse, the syringes and other medical equipment in the room, the windows, the door, Sharona's leg… every other object, except for Sharona's face. However, just because he wasn't looking at the woman's eyes didn't mean that he couldn't feel her death glare etching into his face.

At some point, he dared look at her in the eyes. The frown on her face was making her unrecognizable.

Ryu murmured guiltily:

"I hope your ankle heals soon…"

Sharona snorted arrogantly and turned her head away. She asked angrily:

"Am I already too much of a burden to you?"

The man raised his hands and stammered:

"No! I didn't mean that! I was just worried about you!"

The woman cut him off mercilessly while still staring in the opposite direction:

"Your worries won't change a thing!" Her frown deepened. "Our match has already been appointed for Thursday and there's no way my ankle will get better by then! Without me, the Lily Five will lose the fight for sure!"

Ryu lowered his head grievously. He realized now how much damage he had actually cost. Sharona's injury was one thing; the more serious problem was that the Lily Five were one team member short and it happened to be their most important one: their leader. Without Sharona's guidance, the chances that the Lily Five would lose against their opponents were extremely high. The guilt crashed over Ryu's shoulders, more powerful than ever before.

"There has to be something you can do." Ryu contemplated over the situation.

Sharona laughed sourly.

"Even if I can get Ellie or Millie to cover up for me, our team will still be in danger. Those two have been out of training recently and won't be able to cooperate with Sally and Lilly efficiently. The teamwork will not be the same as it is when I am there."

Ryu was listening to Sharona's words with a hint of surprise. Though Sharona superficially looked and acted like an arrogant woman, Ryu knew that Sharona had a gentler, kinder side under that thin shell of complacency. At times like this, the mask she wore in front of society was cracking up and revealing her soft side… along with some flaws Ryu had not expected to see in her. Her lack of confidence in her teammates was what shocked him most.

"You underestimate Ellie and Millie too much." He reproached her. "How can you think that they're not capable of handling something so important to you after everything you've been through?"

Sharona looked at him. Her frown had disappeared. There was only sadness in her eyes now.

The nurse finished bandaging Sharona and helped her and Ryu leave the hospital. Five minutes later, the two of them were walking slowly towards the Lilly Five's lodgings. Ryu had bought her crutches from the medical centre and she was now using them according to their purpose. For ten minutes, they were walking in complete silence. The man was glancing at her anxiously, observant for any other discomforts Sharona might have had. For his relief, he didn't notice any. The blonde was staring right in front of her, walking on her crutches in some kind of melancholic reverie.

Ryu gazed at her expression. Her features were exposing some kind of inner anguish. He opened her mouth to ask if she was alright when Sharona suddenly said:

"Ellie and Millie are afraid."

Ryu kept looking at her, not uttering a word.

- It's not only because they haven't trained a lot… They are more afraid for the other girls than they are for themselves." Sharona continued. "They are just too… protective. Ellie is like a sister to everyone and Millie…" The woman laughed with a small smile. "…She's _the_ _little_ sister, always caring for everyone's safety… I'm not saying that they can't fight. I'm saying that they are not meant to fight."

Ryu raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"If you mean that their protectiveness towards the others is a bad thing, I'll have to correct you. Teamwork is all about looking out for each other. MasterYoh and Faust are—"

"They are overdoing it." Sharona interrupted him seriously. "Ellie and Millie will waste their time acting as a shield for Sally, Lilly or myself when they'll be more useful if they concentrate on defeating their enemies. Those two are too concerned about protecting us when they have to be concerned about winning."

"A human's life is more important than anything." Ryu disagreed with Sharona. "You can't tell them to go all out on the enemy and completely forget that there are allies who might need them."

Sharona sighed and murmured irritatedly:

"It appears you misunderstood me… yet again." She stopped walking and looked at him with a sparkle of anger in her eyes. "What I am trying to explain is that their overprotectiveness is completely unnecessary because Sally, Lilly and I can take care of ourselves! Their concern for us is so great that it's… offending! It's as if we're little children! They're terribly underestimating us!"

Ryu shook his head and said:

"Ellie and Millie-chan just hold you dear, Sharona. Just because they want to protect you doesn't have to mean that—"

"Here you go again…" Sharona rolled her eyes.

She didn't bother to look at him twice before striding ahead of him, as fast as she could with her crutches. The man sighed, now feeling guiltier than ever. Ryu quickly caught up with her.

"Sharona, I understood what you are trying to tell me, but—"

"Then don't argue with me!" The blonde cut him off gloomily. "I know Ellie and Millie a lot better than you do. I know their strengths, weaknesses and fears and I know that if I let any of those two fight in my place, we'll lose…"

She stopped her pessimistic rant because loud voices came to her hearing. Several of them were female and they all sounded very familiar. They were coming from around the corner a few feet away from Sharona.

"That sounds like Sally." She observed. "And she sounds pissed off."

She and Ryu stood where they were and waited for the group to show itself. A few seconds later, the voices of the other Lilies became completely discernable and it wasn't too late when the girls themselves showed up. They all had worried expressions on their faces. When they saw Sharona standing in front of them with her bandaged ankle and her crutches, they all let out excited and anxious yelps and came to her, showering her with concerned questions.

"Sharona, what happened to your leg!?" – Ellie exclaimed and stared at her, completely out of her skin.

Sharona forced a smile on her face and stated in her normal voice:

"Nothing to worry about, it's just bruised. It should—"

"Bruised!!" – Ellie exclaimed.

Sharona sweat-dropped. Her friend's overreaction was bothering her.

Sally glowered at Ryu, who recoiled because his instinct of self-preservation was triggered. Sally usually affected people that way when she was livid with anger.

"You!" She grumbled and pointed at him. Ryu turned pale. The redhead strode towards him and gripped at his collar. The burly man was amazed that the woman raised him two feet in the air.

"Son of a bitch! You did this to Sharona!" She roared. Ryu gained mantic abilities for a few seconds, because he clearly saw how he was going to be beaten to a bloody pulp by this female monstrosity with explosive temper. It was a good thing that Millie was there to clutch at Sally's leg and exclaim:

"Sally, let him go!"

"That bastard's the reason why Sharona can't walk!" Sally stated angrily, while still keeping Ryu hanging in the air. "Do you think I'll let him go just like that!?"

"Sally, my leg is just bruised! It's not like I am disabled!" Sharona announced carpingly. She freed herself from Ellie's anxious clutches and lugged towards Sally. She told Millie to let go of Sally's leg and lowered the redhead's hand. Miraculously, Ryu hadn't passed out yet.

"Beating him up won't heal my ankle." The blonde explained with a patient tone, much like a mother trying to reason her stubborn child. "I know you want to kick his ass, but then we'll get in trouble with Yoh and the others."

Sally frowned and started:

"But he—"

"I said let him go!" Sharona insisted. "I'm sure his conscience is giving him more than enough discomfort right now. You don't have to make it worse for him."

At first, Ryu was stunned by Sharona's negligent protectiveness, but then the guilt nettled him again when the woman clearly admitted that it was his fault she now needed crutches to walk. The leader of the Lily Five stared at Sally's obstinate expression for a few seconds and took her hand, leading her away from Ryu.

"Let's go and have some rest." Sharona mumbled exhaustedly. "I've had a rough day today."  
"Hey, Sharona!" Another voice came from around the corner of the street. A second later, Yoh, followed by Ren and the rest of the gang appeared. Yoh examined worriedly the picture in front of him: from Ryu's saddened face to Sharona's bandaged foot. The boy looked at her and stated:  
"Your leg looks pretty injured, Sharona."

Ellie and Lilly glared at him. The latter murmured reprehensively:

"Thanks for stating the obvious."

Anna, who could not be moved by something as frivolous and insignificant as a bruised leg, just said tepidly:

"I've seen worse. A little pain will be good for your endurance, missy. It will steel you nicely."

The Lilies now glared at Anna. Sharona, who had just addressed so impolitely, was the most irritated one.

"I know many ways to heal a wounded leg in a matter of seconds!" Faust proclaimed enthusiastically. "I don't even need my scalpels or anesthetic to fix this."

Sharona threw a quick glance at the doctor. The bags under his eyes had gotten slightly bigger and darker, his blonde hair was still a mess and his eyes still had that hidden crazy sparkle of the mad scientist in them. The blonde made up her mind in a split-second.

"That's very kind of you, but I'll be fine without your medical care." She stated with dismissal in her voice. Then she nodded imperatively at her teammates. The five of them walked pass the surprised Yoh and his gang without uttering another word.

The mixture of guilt, sadness and anger at his own uselessness was tearing Ryu apart. He exclaimed desperately:

"Sharona, please, I can—"

"Cut it out, Ryu!" Sharona sighed and gazed at him. "Just… leave me alone, okay? You did what you could today…"

She turned her back at him and walked away. Ellie and Millie were standing close to her and supporting her as she moved. Sally threw one last death glare at Ryu before leaving. Ren stared at her as the group moved down the street.

"And she didn't say one 'Goodbye.'" He murmured to himself.

Horo patted Ryu consolingly on his broad back.

"You did your best, man. Don't get too worked up over this, Ryu, she's just pissed off. She'll get over it soon."

The man sighed deeply. He threw one last glance at the Lily Five. He could see Sharona's bright, blond, curled hair stand out in the middle of the group.

"Yeah." Ryu muttered and nodded, as if trying to convince himself. "She'll get over it… somehow."  
The guilt was still devouring him from the inside. Ryu didn't know if he could bear the thought that the Lily Five lost their next match because of him.

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**From the Author:** End of Chapter One! Share your opinions and thoughts of this couple and the story. I'll be updating soon.


	2. Lake and Forest

_**Knight In The Moonlight's Shadow**_

**Chapter Two:** Lake and Forest

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Shaman King.

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Ryu couldn't sleep well this night. His tortured conscience was depriving him from his rest and causing him nightmares, from which he woke up several times, finding himself sweaty and tangled up in his sheets.  
He once again looked at the clock in the twilight of the morning. It was five o'clock. There was no point in going back to sleep now; Anna would barge in their room and wake them up with a merciless roar any moment now, ready to hand them their daily six-hour training session of Hell. Ryu had gotten used to it a long time ago, so he wasn't the one who would whine about getting up early and getting his ass worked off. He stood up from his bed, picked up his clothes and went to the bathroom.

The cold water washed away the sweat from his body. It cooled him off and took away the tension from his muscles, but his head was still burning with the painful thoughts that were coursing through his brain.

It was his fault. He tried to deny it to himself at first, but there was no point in doing that anymore. His carelessness had pinned her to the crutches for an indefinite amount of time and during that period she wasn't going to fight… but there was a fight coming up very soon. Shortly before having dinner with the others, Ryu had checked up who the Lily Five were fighting against next. Their opponents happened to be a team of two men and a girl, all three of them with ominous pasts, significant Furyoku amounts and extraordinary spirit guardians. Silver informed him that there were rumors about this trio that they used to be allies with Hao, but split up from him before he went to capture the Great Spirits. If those hearsays were true, then the Lily Five would be facing a very formidable opponent. This ill news further contributed to Ryu's bad mood and taciturnity for the whole evening. Neither Yoh, nor Faust dared speak to him. They knew that their encouragement and comforting words wouldn't cheer him up. His innocent, kind nature was not a secret to anyone, so they knew how hard Ryu was taking this. The man's inner struggle was more than evident; a stranger who had never seen Ryu before could come to the conclusion that there was something really bothering him just by looking at his face. Lyserg was sitting with the rest of the group for dinner and even his presence wasn't enough to bring Ryu out of his melancholic pensiveness. The brawny man ate almost nothing of his dinner and went to bed earlier than the others.  
"I'm so pathetic." He thought gloomily. Ryu turned the taps off and reached out for the towel. He went out of the bathroom and continued to dry himself with another towel. While doing so, he realized that the hands of the clock were showing 6:15. He was surprised that he had spent all that time in the shower. Somehow, he left about that, too.

"Should I go apologize again?" He pondered.

He glanced through the window. The ginger sun was snooping over the horizon and shining over the slumbering Patch Village with its crimson, new-born sunrays. For some reason, that saddened Ryu even more.  
"Another day has just begun… and here I am…"  
He put on his clothes and stood up. Ryu looked at his hair. It was still damp from the shower, hanging completely unrestrained from all sides of his head. He glanced at the bottle of hair-gel standing next to the mirror on a small clothes-press. The man didn't feel like putting gel on today. Ryu picked up his wooden sword and quietly strode down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone up. The door creaked as he cautiously closed it behind him.

He strode down the sleepy streets of Patch. The merchants had not yet opened their stores and there was hardly anyone wandering around this early in the morning. Ryu walked pass rows and rows of lodgings, occupied by shamans of various nationalities. The exterior of every Patch accommodation resembled the traditional architecture of the Patch tribesmen and the only way to distinguish one from another was by the height of the building or the number of windows in it. However, now that the whole village was packed with shamans from all over the world, one could see traces of different of cultures scattered on each lodging. Amulets, weapons, runes, hieroglyphs, carpets, clothes, even flags and texts in various languages could be seen through the windows and decorating the entrances of the lodgings. This colorful diversity was making Ryu's eyes hurt. The idea of multiethnic and multicultural presence was stressed even harder at noon, when participants and tourists from all around the globe strode in every direction, some even dressed in their traditional attire, chatting, arguing and laughing in their own mother tongue. The clamor of undistinguishable voices in all sorts of languages was an amazing experience one had to go through.

For Ryu, on the other hand, this was only the source of a major headache.

He kept walking, going deeper into the village and approaching the large village square. The buildings were becoming more florid, with some changes in their architecture that contained Western elements. These buildings stood out among the other lodgings with their natural Patch style like a black sheep in a white herd. They were new 'experiments' that innovators among the Patch people had reconstructed, attempting to bring a more welcoming atmosphere to the numerous shamans inhabiting the village, a large portion of them hailing from Western Europe. A hovering building projected above all others, resembling a Gothic tower. The imposing effect of the dark structure was ruined, though, by the stone totem-like eagle head that was carved out on the roof of the building. Alas, the outcome only spoke of the Patch architects' lack of experience and artistic skills.

Ryu was slowly walking away from the village square, seeing more and more people appearing on the streets with every passing minute. As he moved to the other corner of Patch, the crowd in the streets was increasing, the village was slowly awakening from its sleep, leaving its accommodations and engaging in its everyday activities and constant bustle. The man was separating himself from all the noise, heading towards the woods that surrounded the village. As he drew closer, he felt the air growing moist with the forest dew still covering the grass and the leaves of the threes. It smelled of virgin purity that only forests, untrodden by human feet and untouched by a man's hand. He climbed the hummock, covered with a thick carpet of wild grass, and entered the forest. Soon he was lost from sight among the dark wall of trees.

Ryu walked silently through the grove. The hovering trees were concealing most of the firmament, but there were spots were sunlight was able to pierce through the branches and caress the moist soil. Mushrooms and wild flowers sprouted between the roots of the high pine trees. Birds were singing their morning greetings between each other from every corner of the forest. The noctural animals were retreating to their dens for a daylong sleep while the other inhabitants of the forests were beginning to awaken. This untamed forest was flooding Ryu's senses with amazing feelings he could only experience while standing in hallowed spots such as this one. He could never get enough of it.  
No matter how many times, Nature always astonished him with her beauty.

He drew a deep breath, savouring the intoxicating smell of the forest. He felt his lungs inflating with the fresh air, his chest heaved, then exhaled, feeling how a great burned exited his body with that expiration. Ryu strolled among the trees, completely confident in the direction he was going in. For several minutes he walked pass trees and bushes, through the unbeaten path between the trees, when he finally made it.

The lake.

It was a large lake in a perfect, oval-shaped form, filled with crystal-clear water. The surface was completely smooth; there was not a single wave running across the water, turning the lake into a mirror that reflected every detail of the real world. The rays of the sun painted the mere golden with crimson shades. The shore was covered with pebbles and river rocks that surrounded the lake and dived in its waters. Ryu could see every single rock covering the bottom of the lake. It was a magnificent picture, a masterpiece intangible by the hand of any human artists. Only Nature had the power to paint something so beautiful that could stop the breath in utter reverence and fill the soul to the brim with tranquility and peace, all at the same time. It was the image of the place Ryu had been dreaming of for so many years: the Best Place.

Ryu sat down on the grassy shore and gazed at the flat, pure surface that reflected the world above it. He placed his sword on the ground and leaned his arms on his knees.

With his head supported on his arms, his gaze drifted across the tranquil waters of the lake, then dived into the water, exploring every inch of the bottom. As his eyes moved further and further away from the shore, he started losing the bottom out of his sight. Darkness was shrouding the depth of the forest lake, its still waters hinting of obscure secrets and unexplored space which Ryu could only dream of.

What was at the bottom of that lake? He had asked himself that question every time he sat on this grassy shore and stared into the lake. It felt like ages since he last came to this place, but his inner disturbance was motiveless; this locus of natural perfection had not changed one bit since he last laid eyes on it. And the bottom of the lake was still so enchantingly enigmatic.

An ethereal green-skinned man with a pair of katanas strapped around his waist appeared behind Ryu. Without thinking much about it, Tokagero spoke out loud, breaking the unearthly silence of the forest.

"Hey, Ryu, the hell is wrong with you?"

The shaman remained deaf to his guardian's complaints. His eyes were fixed at that dark spot of deep-blue abyss; the place where the lake bottom was vanishing into darkness.

"Hey!" Tokagero barked and poked Ryu's shoulder. "Why don't you answer!?"

The spirit leaned forward and gaped at Ryu's pensive face.

"You've been sulking like that since you came home last night! Are you still thinking about that woman?"

Still no answer.

"Sheesh…" The ghostly thief sighed in irritation. "If you keep tormenting yourself with that woman, you'll lose your mind, kid! You gotta take it easy!"

Ryu raised his head and glanced at Tokagero. He muttered:  
"But they'll lose because of me."

The reptilian ghost scratched a spot near his ear and tried to come up with some sort of answer.

"Well…" His stock-in-trade was running low on consoling ideas, mostly because of the fact that he had never encountered a situation like this one when he was alive. When he finally came up with something relatively close to what he was aiming for, he babbled out: "If they lose because of you, then this will dispel their fears that they are too weak and they won't put the blame on themselves!... ugh…"  
Ryu's dark glower made Tokagero recoil. He had picked the wrong set of words. The spirit hung his head.

"That didn't help much, did it?" He checked, feeling discouraged by his partner's mood.

The silence was Ryu's answer.

"Ah… I figure as much." The spirit sulked even more.

* * *

Unknown to Ryu and his guardian ghost, the woman they were – or at least Tokagero was – discussing, was hobbling towards that same lake in that same forest, supporting her body on her crutches and muttering angry curse words under her nose.  
Her frustration had reached its peak when, in spite of all logic and rational sense, she had grabbed her crutches and limped all the way to this forgotten place, despite of her physical state. Sharona could only imagine the fright and horror the other Lilies would have when they found her bed empty with her nowhere to be found. She blamed this on her stubbornness and inability to cope with defeat; she has always been a sore loser. Even though she knew that exposing her exasperation in front of other people would make her look pathetic and even weaker, she couldn't keep the raging storm of injured pride locked inside her when she met with failure. It was this same stubbornness and denial of defeat that made her get out of the warm and comfy sheets and trudge all the way to this place: the place she had picked to be her sanctuary; her own little temple where she could heal her mind and purify her thoughts in a way nothing else could.

Sharona tripped in a rock. If her hand hadn't caught on a low branch, she would have fallen prostrate on the ground. The pain in her palm hinted that the rough branch had torn the skin of her palm. Ignoring the pain, she reached the crutch she had just dropped and seconds later she was on her way again.

_That damn guy..._

Men! Every single one of them was a liar, a back-stabbing hypocrite who wanted nothing but to get some. Sure, it was natural that when it came to their relationships with females, men were mostly interested in having sex with that particular woman above all else. Sharona had learned first-hand that men were skilful liars. She understood that nature dictated men's behavior, but that didn't mean she liked the methods they used to get what they want. Maybe it was because of their reserved nature and tendency to hide their true feelings that they were able to speak untruth so lightheartedly. Men were insensitive brutes who could never imagine themselves in a girl's position. They had no idea what it was to be a young, innocent girl, who had discovered love for the first time. They did not how much it hurt when that amazing sensation disappeared, when it broke to millions of sharp pieces and stabbled like glass deep into the body. How could someone be so cruel to take advantage of a girl's feelings to use her in such a disgusting and sinful way? Her antipathy towards men was anything but ungrounded prejudice; she wouldn't take any chances of allowing another man to get close to her ever again. She couldn't afford that kind of pain again.

The increasing number of light streaks in the green roof above her head was indicating that she was exiting the forest. Limping on her crutches, she carefully stepped on the bare land. The flat surface of the lake was reflecting her image: a tall woman with grayish-green eyes, long blond hair with the tips curled backwards, pale skin, clad in a blue dress and black high heels. She stared impartially at her own image for a few seconds, then strode near an area near the shore surrounded by high river rocks with flat sides, creating a shelter where a person could sit or lie down, remaining completely hidden from curious looks from the other side of the lake. It was her favourite spot of this whole place. She could sit there, protected by the wall of rocks surrounding her, and allow her mind to drift off quietly and peacefully in the little whirlpool inside her own head, rearranging her thoughts, refreshing her thinking and mulling over the solution to personal problems. And right now, she had a very serious problem to deal with.

She let her body slump against the surface of the rocks. Her rear was pressed against the sand a few seconds later.

She was useless. With that leg of hers, she was in no condition to fight. The doctors themselves had strictly advised her to stay out of fights. However, there was no way Sharona could allow her girls to go out there all by themselves. It was not all because they would be one fighter short. She was the Leader. She was the one entitled with the right to give orders, to work on strategies and act as the head, the representative of the whole team, the embodiment of their ideals and their unique characteristics. She had taken the psychological role of the Leader, she had taken the responsibility of ordering others around and making decisions. She had the aura of a commander, she was the most mature in the group and had far more experience in giving orders than any of the girls. In their eyes, she took the image of a mother figure, a person who can always be relied on, someone who wouldn't let anyone down. How was she supposed to _NOT_ lead them, to _NOT_ fight alongside with them?

And yet, maybe she was looking at the problem from the wrong angle. She had taken the burden of being the leader, but she had also taken the advantage of giving other orders. She had created this image of a chief in the minds of the Lilies, she had given them the impression that they depended on her judgment and guidance. She had not even thought for a second that a time like this might come when she would be unable to lead the Lily Five. All Sharona had been doing was teaching them how to follow her orders correctly and execute them quickly, she had not prepared the girls at all to act independently in case of an extreme situation such as this one. Without her to lead them, she feared that fights might erupt among the team for the position of a temporary leader.

However, wasn't she underestimating them _too much_? Hadn't the girls proven themselves before that they were self-reliant individuals who could take care of themselves? Both Sally and Ellie were grown young women who knew how to survive without Sharona babysitting them, Lilly was a rational thinker with a solid touch with reality and even Millie had her own opinion and a will to act independently. Maybe it was not something that Sharona should have specifically taught them, perhaps it was something that developed as the girls grew up and matured? But how could Sharona be certain that her girls were mentally prepared to do this without her? What if they screwed everything up in the most crucial moment? Nothing could guarantee that the Lily Five would emerge victorious from a fight, even when Sharona was leading them, but now that their key fighter was absent, the chances of victory were even smaller.

Sharona slammed her fist against the ground. She let out a whimper because she had hit an exceptionally large pebble with her palm. The woman cursed silently; if she bruised herself even more, this time even without the 'help' of anybody else, she'd probably be better off if she locked herself in a padded room with lots of soft pillows in the shape of bunnies.

A small pink cloud appeared with a quiet puff next to her.

"Aren't you making too much of a fuss over this?" Enra Enra asked her.

"Shut up." Sharona murmured gloomily.

The impish spirit floated above her head then positioned herself in front of Sharona's face.

"You shouldn't spoil them so much. Let them take a risk; give them a chance to make a decision on their own."

"You don't understand, do you?" Sharona grunted. She picked a pebble from the ground and threw it in the lake, disturbing the perfectly smooth mirror surface of the lake with small circles. "How am I supposed to let them go on their own when I've always been there guiding them? I've fought as the leader of the team ever since we started fighting. I haven't prepared them for a situation like this one…"

"You'll never know if they're ready until you let them take that risk." The spirit answered with eyes fixed in the water.

Sharona sighed:

"What if they lose? What if they get hurt? What if they get _killed_!? I can barely keep them safe when I am there, can you imagine _what will happen_ if I let them fight anyone without me sticking by their sight? There's no doubt that this might end tragically."

She threw another pebble in the lake. It landed with a ringing splash, sending more circles drifting through the water.

"And what exactly will you do? You'll force yourself on the battlefield with that wounded leg of yours? You can barely walk; _fighting_ someone is impossible for you right now. You'll be nothing but a burden to them, Sharona. If you try to help them in this condition, you'll only be making things worse." Enra Enra explained in concerned tone.

Sharona, who had been on the brink of her nerves since yesterday, finally exploded:

"Then what the hell should I do!? I can't tell them to forfeit; we made a compromise with our pride one year ago, we won't quit on our own accord again! I'd rather die than forfeit another fight!"

She scooped some pebbles with her hand and threw them in the lake. They sunk instantly, leaving small ripples through the water surface as the only trace of their impact.

"After everything we've been through and after we've been given this unique second chance, we're gonna lose in a **stupid** way like that!" She screamed in a state of uncontrollable fury. "Everything's gonna fall apart because of some sprained ankle! And it's all because of that idiot Ryu!"

She slammed her fists on the ground and shouted:

"I'm helpless! For the first time ever, I can't think of anything to help them! What kind of leader am I when I don't know how to save my teammates' lives!?"

Her curses and growls turned into desperate sobs and whimpers. Sharona gritted her teeth as tears streamed down her cheeks and fell on the ground. She was gasping through air, her mind was sinking in a pit of despair. She felt the desolation spilling upon her… ancient, long-lost obsidian memories flooded her head, her gaze faded to black…

Enra Enra grabbed her shoulder and yelled:

"Sharona! Sharona! Pull yourself together!"

Sharona stared at her spirit with wide, tear-filled eyes. Her expression was a broken mirror, reflecting her inner torment. The ethereal woman leaned forward and exclaimed:

"Why are you letting yourself getting the best of you!? Are you going to sit here, crying and curling like a child till your girls get killed? Have you forgotten the oath you made when the Lily Five was formed three years ago?"

The blonde raised her head in a dumbstruck emotion. How could she have…

_Silver moonlight seeping through a dusty window. A scantily lighted room. A large kitchen table. Five stools, situated around the table. Five girls, sitting on them. A thin streak of smoke, coming out of a pipe._

_Sharona settled the pipe on the table. She sighed in a bored voice and stated:_

"_What are you all so surprised about? I thought it was obvious from the very beginning."_

_Ellie blinked. Her features still carried the traces of the shock she had had only a minute ago._

"_Sharona… do you really mean it? Seriously?"_

_Sharona cocked her eyebrows in irritation._

"_Of course I mean it! Do I look like the type who'll joke about something as serious as this?"_

_Millie muttered in a low voice:_

"_We've always talked about this, but… turning away from everything just like that…"_

"_Did you plan on just talking about that your whole life? Mourning over your fate till you die and rot away? I'm tired of talking! I'm not putting up with this dog life I'm leading anymore."_

_Lilly stuttered out:_

"_But… getting involved in something so dangerous!? We might get killed!"_

"_Die fighting for a cause or live a life as an outcast and without any purpose, which do you prefer? This is our chance to get away from this nightmare of an existence we live here. We'll be able to start all over again, to walk among other shamans like us without fear of being shunned, persecuted or lynched for seeing spirits. If we win, we'll never have to be afraid of humans again. The whole world will be in our feet."_

"_But what if we lose?" Ellie insisted anxiously. "We'll have to get back to this miserable life!"_

_Sharona slammed her palms against the table, stood up and yelled:_

"_Then we just won't lose! We'll put everything in this fight! Every single drop of strength, determination, perseverance and willpower we have in us, even our blood and flesh; we'll use it all! If we lose like that, we'll never feel the shame or remorse of not doing our best to win."_

"_Sharona, you can't be serious!" Ellie insisted wearily. "You want us to join a tournament we know absolutely nothing about! We don't know where we are supposed to go, what we are supposed to do, what are the risks we are taking, we don't know what people we are supposed to fight, we don't even know what we will win in the end! How are we supposed to know that we are strong enough to start something like this when we've never compared ourselves to other shamans? What if we are weak? What if we don't have anything that takes to fight in this Shaman Fight? We'll be throwing away our lives for something we—"_

"_Has your fear killed every single drop of dignity and pride you have in you?!" Sharona grumbled and sat down again. "I hear you moan every day how no one understands you and how stupid, weak and bigoted humans are! You've lived for sixteen years like a bird in a cage and now that the door is finally opened, you're afraid to fly away!?"_

_Ellie bit her lower lip. Sharona narrowed her eyes in anger and spat out:_

"_You are wasting your lives this way! I've wasted enough of my time hiding from these pathetic humans! This is a golden chance for a complete change that can't be missed!"_

_The girls stared at each in silent nonplus and hesitance. Only Sally was leaning on the table with her eyes closed. Lily cleared her throat with ill-concealed nervousness and began:_

"_Sharona, I might agree with your statement and assist you in this tournament…"_

"_What!?" Ellie exclaimed._

"…_but only if you find more information about it. I want to know exactly what am I getting myself involved into."_

_The blond woman nodded._

"_The priest said that there's a preliminary round we must pass before we can participate in the tournament. When we pass this round, we'll ask him about everything we need to know."_

"_Hold on a second!" Ellie exclaimed and waved her hands around. "You are—"_

_Sally raised her head and opened her eyes._

"_I'm in, too." She stated firmly._

_Ellie's mouth turned into a wide circle._

"_You, too!?" She squealed unbelievingly._

_The redhead glanced at the other girl impartially and said:_

"_If I can choose between dying here in this wretched place and dying somewhere away from humans and among other shamans, then I choose the latter."_

_Sharona grinned contently._

"_I knew I could count on you." She commended Sally. Then she fixed her eyes on Ellie and Millie, the two remaining dissidents. The woman folded her arms and smiled expectantly. Ellie knitted her eyebrows and sighed:_

"_Sharona, you know I am a conformist. I've always agreed with everyone, but… I'm afraid for us. And Millie…" She took the little girl in her embrace. "What will happen to her? Will you risk her life so recklessly for the sake of this Shaman Fight? She's barely 10 years old, Sharona, she's just a kid! You're going to get her killed in this stupid…"_

_Ellie was cut off when Millie broke loose from her arms. She stepped away from her and glared at her. The older girl was taken aback from her actions._

"_I'm not a kid!" She said determinedly. "I'm a shaman just like you and I can take care of myself!"_

"_Millie, you are—" Ellie began desperately, but the little girl snapped at her:_

"_If you are against the Shaman Fight because you're worrying about me, then stop it! I'll go with Sharona and prove to you that I'm not weak, helpless or dependent. I'll show you that I am just as capable as any of you!"_

_Tears welled up in Ellie's eyes._

"_Millie, I am—"_

"_Cut it out already!" The girl screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'm not a baby! If you don't let me go, then I'll never be able to prove that to you! Stop using me as an excuse to avoid fighting and get a grip!"_

_For a short period of half a minute, the heavy silence of a screamed-out truth settled in, stretching those thirty seconds into an eternity of anguish. The words embedded themselves in the walls of the room._

_Lilly pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and lightened the air a little bit by muttering:_

"_Honestly, Millie, don't you think you're overreacting?"_

_The chestnut-haired kid glared at the four-eyes. A second before another fierce quarrel began, Sharona rose from her stool._

"_I think this debate is pretty much over. The only one who still disagrees is you, Ellie."_

_The frown on her forehead indicated her disapproval of the recent turn of events and change of standpoints. Sharona knew perfectly how hesitant and frightened Ellie was; for the four years she's known her, the girl had made it obvious that even though she hated her life of an outcast in the human society, she had accepted that fact as the foundation of her lifestyle. It was a reality she had adapted to, it had become so intertwined with her being that tearing her so suddenly from her elbow-room was like tearing off a part of her soul._

_Sharona smiled._

"_Don't worry about it. Nothing's gonna happen to her or any of us. And you know why?"_

_She walked in front of the dumbfound Ellie and slowly, carefully embraced her. The other girl was gawking, unable to muster a proper response._

"_Because I won't let that happen. I won't let anything or anyone harm you. I'll be a mother to all of you."_

_She closed her lids and whispered:_

"_I swear it..."_

Sharona pursed her lips. Her eyes were no longer watery. The streaks of tears running down her cheeks slowly dried out. In a minute's time, the woman regained her composure and dignity. If her ankle wasn't sprained, she would have rose up gracefully and regally like a queen. Her expression was a cool façade, a seal for all emotions and torments she experienced from the inside. No one could guess that minutes ago she was lying on the ground, crying like a child.

Enra Enra let out a small smile.

"It's about time you got back to your normal self. Shame on you for allowing your spirit to lecture you as if you're a little girl."

Sharona's lips curved in a smirk and acknowledged:

"It's been a long time since I've heard you talk that much, Enra Enra, especially with this attitude towards me." She reached for her crutches and carefully pulled her body up. She turned towards her guardian and her eyelids narrowed impishly. "I should punish you when we get back home."

The spirit turned light-pink in fear:

"Hey, what's that all of a sudden!? You're being too much like yourself!" She whined out in panic as Sharona started walking up the beach and into the forest.

"Just wait till I get my pipe." She threatened with a sly smile. "I'll lock you up and throw you in the closed for a whole week!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Enra Enra squeaked out. "I was only trying to help."

"And that comes at a prize."

"Since when does one have to pay to help someone!?"

"That's how things work with me."

"Why do I always forget that…"

Their dispute could still be heard from the lake, even though they were already out of sight, lost in the thick shadows of the woods. The lake was peaceful once more, its surface frozen like a mirror, reflecting the gaze of the heavens beetling upon it. A sparrow's cheerful song echoed through the branches. A gentle breeze rippled through the treetops and send leafs flying across the beach.

One of the leafs fell in Ryu's feet, who was crouching on the other side of the rocky wall. He had heard every word Sharona had said.

* * *

Sharona and her spirit were jogging along through the forest, trying to forget about the conversation they had had ten minutes ago, as if it was a topic with the same embarrassment a full-grown person could experience from having a conversation with his/her sweet old mother, talking to him/her as if she was still in 2nd grade in front of other people. Though the awkward silence was more deafening than the cheery chit-chat, Sharona could still notice a change in the forest. Earlier that morning, on her way to the lake, there were birds singing from every branch around her. Now, all the life bustling in the trees had vanished. The woman did not need her shaman senses to distinguish between natural and _unnatural_ silence.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Enra Enra turned around and faced her.

"What's wrong?"

Sharona sighed.

"What kind of guardian spirit are you when _I_ can sense things better than you? There's someone else around here besides us."

She turned her head around, examining the centuries-old trees around her.

"It must be someone who has never been here before. The birds react towards the presence of new people as a threat."

Sharona did her best to take a provoking position while still supporting her body on her crutches. She knew well that if this 'someone' who was following her was ill-intentioned, there would be no difference between waiting for him to attack her or calling him out, because either way she would be dead. The woman cursed mentally for not bringing the pipe with her and not being in a physical condition for running. Without any hesitation, she yelled out:

"I know you're around here somewhere, so come out!"

She strained her ears to catch any sounds of movement. The forest suddenly seemed gloomier and more threatening to her now. Even the grass blades were frozen stiff in stagnation. Sharona felt sweat breaking out on her back. The forest was completely silent.

Almost like a graveyard.

A sharp sparkle reflected from cold metal. Sharona's eyes shot open.

She pushed herself on her cruches and shot herself forward when a short blade swung where her neck was a moment ago. The blonde rolled on the grass. She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the sudden pain in her sprained ankle. She was lying on the ground, staring at her assailant.

"You're attacking me from the back even though I'm unarmed and walk with crutches? What kind of a cowardly underhanded weakling are you?"

A man with short, black hair who was probably two years older than her was towering above her. He was clad in a pair of denim trousers and a Hawaiian shirt with orange and pink flowers. His freshly-shaved jaw was shut cruelly. His small, sly grayish eyes were fixed in her face arrogantly. There was a tattoo of an inverted cross on his neck.

"Being cautious has never hurt anyone. You should have been, too." He replied evenly. The dagger in his right hand was reflecting the sun with blinding sharpness.

Sharona cursed again. Of all the people out there, why did a psycho like him have to come and kill her? She immediately recognized him as the killer type just by the tone of his voice. There was no point in pleading him to spare her life; it would just give him a kick, plus, he would kill her, anyway. Screaming was out of the question; she didn't come here so far away from Patch to have her voice be heard by people in the vicinity. There was no way she could escape from him with her damn injured leg. She could only pray that he'd just slid her throat instead of raping her, killing her slowly and dumping her in the bushes like an empty can of beer or some other useless junk.

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" She hissed angrily.

"Is there any point for you to know?" He said and raised his eyebrows. "You're going to die soon, so it's useless to tell you."

"Are you connected in any way to the Crimson Skulls?" She inquired.

The man was slowly walking towards her with his knife dangling in his hand.

"I am their leader." He spoke emotionlessly. "Emilio Cordona. A pleasure to meet you. As I already said, you're going to die soon, so don't bother telling me your name. I won't remember it, anyway."

"I had no intentions of telling you my name, you bastard!" The woman grumbled.

Emilio crouched in front of her. He neared his face to hers.

"Tell me, woman… are you afraid of death?"

Sharona snorted disdainfully. She looked at him mockingly and laughed out:

"If I was afraid to die, then I wouldn't be participating in the Shaman Fight, dumbass." A wide smirk appeared on her face. "What are you trying to do? Bring me to the edge of despair and then kill me? How idiotically cliché can you get?"

"You're not going to pray for your life?"

"I haven't prayed to anyone for anything in my life. There's no way in hell I'll die pleading to someone so full of shit like you."

The man blinked. His expression remained unchanged.

"You're being like that because of all that pride, am I right?"

He neared the dagger to her chest and positioned it between her breasts. The tip pierces the fabric of her clothes.

"I'm going to take away your pride and your virginity." He stated as he slowly ran the dagger up her top, cutting through the cloth and revealing her breasts. A small smile emerged on his face at the sight of a horrified Sharona. "Don't worry… I'll make sure I kill you as soon as I finish, so that you won't have to live with the shame of being fucked like an animal in every way imaginable to man."

Sharona gritted her teeth. Her heart was going to explode any moment now. Tears filled her eyes, she wanted to curse and swear at her own helplessness. She was going to be used like some toy by this pig and die like a dog without a drop of honour of pride left. Powerless rage was overtaking her whole being. She had no idea who she hated more: the bastard who was about to ravage her or her own hollow pride that couldn't do shit to help her or the girls…

Something roared behind them. Emilio turned back and raised his dagger.

A creature resembling a large snake with a dragon-like head lunged at Sharona's assailant and sunk its teeth in his neck. The man screamed as the snake crashed him against a tree.

Sharona raised herself from the ground and looked at the one who shook Emilio off her.

"It's unmanly to attack a woman." A deep, familiar voice stated.

It was Ryu.

* * *

**From the Author:** Yes, I screwed up the ending, I know. I hope the rest of the chapter still has some value. Sorry for the huge delay, but I've got other things on my hands and I'm not talking only about my laziness.


	3. Protected

**Chapter** **Three**: Protected

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Shaman King.

* * *

Sharona stared with eyes, wide in surprise, at the broad-shouldered man whose fingers had dug into the hilt of his sword. Ryu's features had changed beyond recognition in anger: his teeth were gritted and bared in a rabid, wolfish manner, the muscles on his neck and face were stretched tight and the soft, dark brown eyes were bloodshot and wide open. He had taken an offensive posture: torso lowered, arms stretched in front of his body, feet pressed against the soil, his whole being driven by a primal, animalistic instinct, awakened by the brutal violation of his chivalrous morals.

The man standing behind her bore more resemblance to an infuriated beast rather than a knight in shining armor. She had never beheld a man so overtaken by ire and the fact that it was someone as gentle-hearted by nature as Bokuto no Ryu was even more terrifying.

She turned her head towards the attacker, slammed against the pine tree. The dragon jaws locked around his neck were pressed so tight that they would break his neck any moment now. Though Sharona would have no remorse for seeing that trash dead, she felt that Ryu's actions were getting dangerously out of control.

"Ryu, stop it!" She yelled.

The former ringleader completely ignored her plea. He opened his mouth and muttered huskily in some sort of bloodthirsty trance:

"Is there a greater offence than attacking a woman?"

A choked sound escaped Emilio's throat. The jaws were clutching tighter.

"I've met scum like him before." Ryu started. "Thugs who start brawls in bars… people who kill for the fun of it. Shit like him won't stop at nothing to get what they want. They don't play fair. They don't care about honour."  
He moved his left higher on the hilt and improved his grip.

"It hurts me kill him, but if I just let him go, he'd come back again. He'll never stop till he gets his revenge. He might even bring friends of his along to make the job easier. If I—"

"Don't do it!" Sharona yelled angrily. "If you despise him that much, then don't sink to his level!"

Ryu suddenly gaped at her, as if he had just noticed her existence.

"Killing him will only get you in trouble with the Shaman Council! Do you want to get arrested and thrown in jail for killing a little shit like him!?" She explained authoritatively.

"But!..." He exclaimed. "He was going to rape you! How can you be so merciful on him after what he did to you?"

"Because—"

"_You're an idiot."_

A crimson-red string shot forth and pierced Ryu's shoulder. Blood shot out of his wound and the shaman let out a cry in pain. The control on his Oversoul was weakened for a few seconds, giving Emilio the opportunity to slice through Yamata No Orochi with the second strike. His body fell limply on the ground with a soft rustle coming from the contact with the grass. The string was pulled back and it snaked tightly around Emilio's arm.

Sharona stood up. From what she could see, the teeth of Yamata No Orochi had left deep wounds on Emilio's neck, from which blood was pumping out, staining his chest and the ground beneath him. He was barely breathing. The woman could see that his carotid artery was severed, which meant that he had very little life left. She smirked; Ryu was so blinded by anger that in the end, it didn't matter at all whether he intended to kill Emilio deliberately or not. His careless actions had put an end to the other man.

Ryu put his hand on his shoulder, trying to stop the blood flowing out of his wound. His right arm was hanging flaccidly.

"Was there any point in… doing that?" He grunted with some difficulty. "You're… dying..."

Emilio barely opened his eyes. His lips parted and he gurgled out among the blood he was puking out:

"You're… going with me..."

Ryu's face was turning paler with every passing second. The couldn't have possibly lost that much blood for such a short period of time, so this meant that the cause for his pain was something different. When she saw how his face twisted in agony and he gritted his teeth, Sharona started turning paler herself as her fears grew. What had Emilio done to Ryu? Was that attack supposed to do something more than just leave a gash in Ryu's shoulder? The blonde gasped in fright when he collapsed on his knees and a groan escaped his throat.

Emilio laughed out with his last breath:

"There was… venom… in that string…"

The crimson energy whirling around Emilio's weapon vanished as the last sparkles of life in his eyes died away. His Oversoul was undone and the spirit of a scorpion floated in the air above his arm. The ghost scurried to his dead master and curled in a ball on top of his chest.

Sharona supported her body on her hands and she did her best to stand up while trying not to put much pressure on her injured ankle. Despite her efforts, the sharp pain pierced her ankle and caused her to stagger, almost knocking her on the ground again. She hopped on one leg to the nearest tree and supported her body with one hand. The woman closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing down, which had become erratic from the pain of her injury. After a few seconds she had regained some of her strength and felt confident enough to walk over to her crutches lying on the ground by hopping on one leg. She picked her crutches and used them to walk over to Ryu, who was now bent in two, his head facing the ground. The man was panting heavily, inhaling and exhaling again and again, his eyes bulging out and cold sweat breaking on his forehead. Sharona's heart froze in fear when she saw that the flesh around the wound on his shoulder was turning greenish-blue; the poison in Emilio's weapon was _this_ _deadly_?!

She turned around when a familiar, but strangely ethereal voice laughed out. Emilio's soul had left his corpse and was floating an inch above the ground, staring with glee at his agonizing opponent and the blonde.

"He won't be using this arm for quite a while." The ghost ascertained gloatingly. "In fact, he won't be using it at all… he won't live long enough for it to heal."

Sharona screeched:

"Fuck off, you son of a bitch!"

"Baobara's poison is one hundred times stronger than the poison of a desert scorpion." Emilio continued with a smirk. "Your friend has less than an hour to live."

"Fuck you!" The woman spat out. "Do you think I'll let him die!?"

"There's nothing you can do." Emilio stated.

Sharona leaned forward so that she could see Ryu's face and shouted:

"Ryu, hold on! Don't die just yet!"

The man rested his torso on his arms. He stood in this posture for ten seconds and suddenly, he stamped on the ground and rose up with all his strength. Sharona was taken aback at Ryu's sudden change; only seconds ago, he was struggling to breathe and now he was standing tall as if nothing had happened.

"I'll be fine." He groaned out. His voice was low and husky, drained out of energy. "Let's go while I can still fight it."

Emilio's ghost shook in uncontrollable, maniacal laughter.

"Still fight it!?" The spirit exclaimed with a grin on his face. "That was a blatant lie and you know it! You're half-dead and your body is decomposing even as we speak and you know that, too! You don't have a—"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Sharona shrieked and swung her crutch at him. It went right through his head. Emilio sighed and slowly hovered higher in the air.

"I think I'll leave you now. I had enough fun." His expression seemed even more arrogant as he watched Sharona from above. Then he addressed his scorpion: "Let's go, Baobara."

With those last words, Emilio's soul faded away and disappeared. Baobara lied on his master's lifeless body for a few more seconds then its body started dissipating. The spirit turned into a formless cloud of energy that quickly vanished, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

Sharona scowled. There were two things she prayed for: the former was that she was fast enough to take Ryu to a hospital before he died in her hands and the latter was that Emilio burned in hell for all eternity. She supported the man under his shoulder and both of them started walking as quickly as they could towards the other end of the forest.

The blonde's heart twisted with angst and fear. It seemed to her that the forest path was stretching into the immense eternity. No matter how hard she tried to go faster, she couldn't see the end of the thick wall of trees surrounding them. Sharona felt herself trapped in a nightmare, a restless delirium outside reality and space. Her senses had turned painfully acute, her perception of the whole world had become agonizingly sharp. She felt time slipping away with every passing second, every passing beat her heart made. She could sense it almost physically, as if the Grim Reaper himself was slicing piece after piece of her time with his scythe. With every single step she took, her fright was slowly turning into panic, becoming harder and harder to control. Her grip around the man's shoulder was tightening more and more, afraid that she might lose him, that he might crumble, disappear, fade away into oblivion should she let go of him, as if she was his only connection to life. Sharona gritted her teeth, fighting off her pain and trudging forward with Ryu, lying half-unconscious on her body, where the end of the forest lied.

"Damn, you're heavy…" She gasped out. "I know you're big, but I didn't think you'd weight a whole ton!"

She threw a sidelong glance at Ryu's face. It was calm, relaxed, devoid of all expression. Dangerously tranquil.

Lifeless.

She stopped dead in her tracks and raised her voice worriedly:

"Ryu, are you listening to me!?"

There was no response.

"Ryu!" She exclaimed, her facial color changing to white. Ryu's life were barely opened, his head was hanging limply facing the ground. Sharona concentrated on hearing Ryu's breathing; it was barely audible and slow, like the sounds emitted from an old man on the brink of death. She groaned when Ryu's legs gave out and the weight of his whole body threatened to crush her. The woman rested the other shaman on the ground and tried to recollect her thoughts.

He was dying, it was pointless to deny that fact. The poison from Emilio's weapon had spread through Ryu's entire body, polluting his blood and effectively deadening his whole organism. Sharona had some medical skill, a requirement for her former job as a babysitter, but her experience only ranged from treating wounds and bandaging chafed skin to picking out the most suitable drug or antibiotic to relieve a cold, a flue or a fever in extreme cases. She had never treated a poisoned man before and her knowledge in venoms and antidotes was embarrassingly poor. The only thing she knew was that if you sink the poisoned area in hot water, the poison spreads slower, but… where the hell was she supposed to find hot water right now!? Sucking the blood out of the wounds seemed useless to her right now; it's been at least half an hour since Ryu got stung and that had given the poison more than enough time to circulate through his body several thousand times. And with a poison as deadly as this one, the chances that she might get infected were very high, and the last thing she wanted now was to die along with Ryu when being so close to the village.

She unbuttoned his shirt and removed it from his body, revealing his broad hairy chest and his wounded shoulder. The area around the wound had grown in size and was tinted in a color even more sickly than before. She pressed her fingers against the carotid artery and she felt his pulse; it was weak, far slower than it should normally be for a human being, but it gave Sharona the momentary relief that the man had not died yet. This meant that she still had time to do whatever was in her powers to do.

The shaman locked her fingers together and concentrated. Sharona had heard of this kind of treatment only once from Faust. It was the conscious manipulation of one's Furyoku to transfuse it from his own body to the body of another shaman.

"_It works the same way blood transfer does, but it's not as simple as sticking a needle in the patient's body. The donor has to mentally direct his Furyoku to flow out of his body and enter the recipient__,__ and that is something a lot of shamans aren't capable of. Also, a single donor's blood will be enough to invigorate the recipient's organism, but in the case of Furyoku, it takes the amount of two, three or more shamans to take the desired healing effect on the recipient's body. This is not only because the recipient needs to convert Furyoku into healing energy, but also because his soul is receiving the Furyoku of a foreign being. As it transforms the foreigner's Furyoku into its own, a lot of unrefined Furyoku is destroyed. The process takes time, but if performed correctly, the effects will be staggering… However, I don't advice you to stick to this method, as it doesn't always pay off."_, that's what Faust had said. The last person he had used this technique on was Ren, one year ago when they fought Hao's minions. The boy was bleeding profusely and was on the brink of death, if it wasn't for Faust's quick thinking and preservation, Ren surely wouldn't have made it. The German discouraged inexperienced people from using that technique, because it could have unexpected, if not harmful effects on the recipient. Sharona, however, had far too much at stake and had no other options left. She couldn't bear the guilt that someone had died so that she could live. Sharona chose the role of the patron for herself, she took the burden of responsibility for others willingly. It wasn't only because of her selfish desire to manipulate others, but because she thought this was the only way for her to become stronger.

As she placed her hands on Ryu's wound, the woman suddenly realized how weak she actually was.

Sharona closed her eyes. She quelled down the rampaging thoughts of fear and despair inside her head and tried to delve into her sub consciousness. She saw only darkness. Vast, pitch-black emptiness, an immense starless cosmos of her own psyche, a territory she had never explored before. There were no laws or order here, except the ones that she had constructed herself. This world lacked light or sounds, there was no warmth or cold here, nothing that could be perceived by physical human senses. Sharona passed by huge immaterial blocks of raw thoughts and instincts and towering skyscrapers of memories, towering into the unseen skies of darkness. Formless emotions, scrambled information and blurred memories ran pass her, till she found it; a stream of pink-tinted energy, springing from a bottomless well and flowing through the mental dimensions of her being.

She reached out.

In the meantime, Ryu was plunging into a deep sleep, his conscience sinking into oblivion…

* * *

**From the Author:** I decided to end it here, so that I won't have to drag along the chapter. I'll post the rest as a new chapter. Accept my apologies!


	4. The Best Place

**Chapter Three: The Best Place**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Shaman King.

* * *

Ryu's eyelids flickered and slowly parted.

Darkness surrounded his sides. Deep, boundless, omnipresent darkness engulfed his world like a dim ocean of uncharted waters, impenetrable and mysterious, harbouring secrets unreachable by the hand or eye of any explorer. Somewhere up above him, probably hundreds of miles away, a small sun shone. Its rays refracted as they sunk deeper and deeper in this interminable tunnel, they blurred and faded, illuminating the space in periodical waves. Light prevailed for a brief time, then darkness overtook its place. This cycle repeated itself over and over again as Ryu felt he was slowly drowning in this vacuum."

The man tried to move his arms. Nothing happened. When he tried to move his legs, his muscles did not respond to his commands. He was as lifeless and limp as a doll.

"I can't feel my limbs..." Ryu thought. The reflection passed painfully slow through his head, it trailed a path through his skull that resonated in the hollow world he inhabited.

His eyes explored his surroundings, but the only thing they saw was void. And that miniature sun that threw its light from far, far away, from a universe, different than this one. The man's skin could barely sense the warmth of the rays, but right now, this was the only proof that he was still alive in some meaning of that word.

"What is this place?" Another thought rang in his head. "Am I dead?"

His body was slowly drifting downwards, pulled by a force that was too weak to be gravity, but just as relentless and unavoidable. He couldn't turn around to check, but he didn't need to; Ryu could feel the darkness lurking underneath him with his own body. The light did not reach those depths, but that dense gloom was not caused by the absence of light. That darkness didn't feel cold or threatening to him, the only sensation it sparkled in his mind was curiousity.

That darkness seemed soothing, warm… almost comfortable. It called out to him, urging him to sink in deeper, to delve into its unexplored territories, to find its very core. It spoke of softness, of rest, it allured Ryu with a gift sweeter than a lover's caress, it surpassed the joy of being alive and walking under the sunrays of the world.

Was this… death?

He had never thought that he would be tempted to give away his life to… this. Wasn't death supposed to be a painful, oblivious feeling? Or was that only the superficial, organic sensation the body experienced when the blood stopped coursing through the veins and the heart stopped pumping? If the living knew how emollient and intoxicating this thing called 'death' felt, every person on earth would have commited suicide.

And right now, with the link between his body and soul so tenuous and stretching through what it seemed to be light years to him, he couldn't find any reason to turn back and live again.

* * *

Sharona's hand went directly through the water. She didn't even feel the pink liquid making contact with his skin. The woman could touch the water with the same success one could grasp the fog or a ray of light.

She retracted her hand.

"What the hell is wrong here?" Sharona thought to herself. Her efforts to dip up even a handful of water were futile. Her hands passed through the babbling stream without interrupting its course, the water completely disregarded them as a material obstacle.

There was no doubt that this was her Furyoku; she had immediately recognized the energy emitted from stream as her own. Physical forms did not have meaning in this universe, everything here was hidden behind the mask of a symbol. That water was her own energy, she did not feel it rejecting her, but somehow, she wasn't able to make contact with it.

Perhaps physical touch was not the way to communicate with her Furyoku. She raised her head and her eyes glided upstream the current. The well where the stream rose had mysteriously changed its position, right now the distance between it and Sharona seemed like the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Another irksome characteristic of this psychological dimension was that physical positions between two objects in space were as 'constant' as the mood of a hyperactive teenage girl.

Sharona made a small leap in the space and dashed towards the end of the stream with the speed of a rocket. Seconds later, she found herself hovering above it and staring into its depths. Underneath the surface was a neverending flux of energy, the water was pulsing in a soft violet glow. As she stared into the source of the stream, the memory of a familiar voice resounded in her head.

"_The energy that flows through your body, which shamans have chosen to call 'Furyoku', springs from the core of your own soul. The mind does not have the power to manipulate Furyoku, as it is a type of energy unproduced and unprocessed by the mentality. Only a person's own soul can bend Furyoku at he wishes."_

Suddenly, those words gave meaning to the uncanny disembodiment of the stream of Furyoku. Manipulating the stream itself was like trying to splash the water coming out of a hose in the direction of a plant with his bare hands; it was wrong, inappropriate and absolutely ineffective. The only real way one could water a plant in this situation was to pick the _hose_ with his hands and direct the water stream at the base of the plant. That well of murmuring liquid was where that stream came from, it was the entrance to the core of the soul which Faust spoke of. Through this locus she could take full control of her energy. That was the key.

"The hose, eh?..." Sharona murmured.

She retracted her limbs and moved her torso forward. With one swift motion, she lunged herself towards the raging waters like an eagle. She plunged headfirst in the well and to her surprise and relief, the water here was not ethereal like the one in the stream, if offered a satisfactory physical resistance to her movements and density and volume that somehow felt comforting.

As she dived towards an unseen bottom in a tunnel with no walls, Sharona could feel her environments changing. The temperature of the water started rising from below average to warm, a light somewhere below her flickered and started growing stronger with the second. The woman just realized that she could move through the water almost as easily as she could on the surface. She wasn't suffocating, oxygen turned out to be unnecessary for her to exist in this water. Sharona ignored physical and biological laws elegantly like a flawless deity.

A deity…

The light at the bottom of the well exploded, engulfing the woman and her entire world, sending them to a higher level of existence.

Rose and cherry sparkles sprung out of her hands. Bright energy in all the ranges of red and pink flowed through her fingers and sunk in Ryu's body.

It was incredible. Every single aspect of her being - her body, mind, spirit: all of them were in the water. No, they _were_ the water. Every millimeter that came in contact with the water was under her control. It was a sensation the ordinary human senses could not compass, it was magnificence beyond the understandings of the feeble human mind. Was this how God felt? She existed in a form that was not of flesh and bone, but it wasn't weak and airless, either. She had transformed into a energy that now flooded her subconscious world and sought to gush out.

Sharona moved a hand and the whole stream leaped in the air. It rained like a waterfall all around, it crashed against the mental structures of her psyche and poured out through the crevice that connected her to the periphery of Herself. She rode the waves of this raging deluge, listening to the roaring orchestra of the water, vigorously approaching the exit of her mind.

And they made it; like a river flushing out of the crevice in a mountain wall, the tremendous quantity of Sharona's Furyoku poured out of her mind, shot through her veins and entered Ryu's body. The moment her conscience penetrated Ryu's inner world, an ominous feeling of spreading darkness settled over the flow of pink energy. The water swept even faster than before, illuminating the darkness like a comet slitting through the empty space.

The sensations of this world were radically different from her own inner universe. While the unknown in her head gave out the feeling of something that was once her own possession, but lost and buried in her sub-consciousness, Sharona felt the total absence of everything friendly and familiar in this place. The unknown openly radiated a feeling of an ominous threat, directed towards Sharona's invading mind. So far, the Furyoku was passing through the formless tunnels of Ryu's soul unhindered. She prayed that this journey lasted till it reached its destination.

At some point, the darkness started pulling back, giving way to a more material shape of Ryu's inner universe. Walls build from dark red bricks the size of elephants towered from both sides of the pink flow, the floor was covered in something too grey and colorless to be sand, but also too rocky to be ashes. A stairway larger and higher than the Cheops pyramid ascended towards a gloom-shrouded heaven.

The river curved and crashed into the lifeless soil, spilling to both sides of the channel, attempting to climb the steep crimson walls, overflowing on the staircase and flooding the floor along its entire length, soaking every crack and hole in the ground with invigorating powers. The waves of this cherry-colored water receded, revealing the figure of a nude blonde woman who seemed to be glowing in the darkness.

Sharona turned around slightly to take a look at the river that still raged across the dark tunnel. She could feel the threat that loomed above her beginning to vanish, this place was becoming more and more familiar with her being as the waters permeated the ground and united with it. The woman then looked at the stairway in front of her; it was constructed of a material, different than the crimson rocks that made up the walls around her. Her bare feet felt no warmth coming from the stone - it was unnaturally cold even for a normal stone. As if it was dead. But that would make no sense, seeing as stone was never an animated, living substance to being with. However, every basic natural law was voided of meaning in this ethereal dimension. Everything here could be reckoned as a metaphor or a symbol.

Dead stone. How ominous of a symbol was that? Something that was already unliving could die? It was an overexaggerated suggestion of degradation, decay and destruction. Has this place always been like this? Did it transform into this deserted crypt-like corridor the moment Ryu's life started fading away? Or was this environment the embodiment of a section of Ryu's conscience that had no relation to his biological status? Perhaps a storage room… or rather a storage land for memories? Nothing in this place hinted of the presence of life, there were no signs that this shrine-resembling construction was ever associated with a function of subsistence.

At any rate, Sharona discarded these thoughts as she started walking up the staircase. Her naked feet tapped dully up the stone steps, the quiet echo resonating through the seemingly boundless place. The stairs took the echo up and repeated it again and again, sending it towards the summit of the dead temple, as if it was heralding Sharona's approach to someone waiting for her at the end of the stairs. This strange reflection drilled in Sharona's head and became of astonishingly large importance. Who was up there? Was there supposed to be someone at the end of this stairwell waiting for her? With this entire place sucked dry out of life, why would there be someone left to greet her? It was impossible to orientate herself in this place, displaced from the physical boundaries of the world, and there was no way her imagination could picture this location as designed for functioning anywhere in the huge mechanism of Ryu's mind. Was the human mind actually separated into easily distinguished portions with fixed purposes? No, applying real-life logic to a person's subconscious reality was a waste of time, nothing here worked the same way things would work or follow the same logical pattern as they would in life. There wasn't an architect who'd draw the blue-prints of an individual's psyche and point separate locations with arrows, ending with underlined text such as 'Memory storage room' or 'Self-identity center'. There was no way a human's mind was constructed like that… right?

Her legs took a step after step, not feeling fatigue at all as she climbed the endless stairs. Thankfully, her body in its current condition wasn't limited by its physical shortcomings. She felt overflowing with energy, her legs could keep walking forever. Man, that sounded really… bad. And disturbing. What if she really **did** spent the rest of eternity climbing this stairwell, attempting to reach its end that seemed stretched in the endlessness? Maybe this was the punishment this foreign, hostile world had prepared for her audacity to enter and try to change its flow. Or perhaps she wasn't destined at all to reach Ryu's soul, maybe she was going straight towards a dead end.

Sharona shook hear head, trying to remove these pitiful, laughably miserable thoughts, as she feared that they might actually affect her surroundings. While in that mental form, thinking and acting had almost the same impact on the inner world. She paced forward with an increased speed.

She didn't know how long she had been walking up that stairway, but at some point of time, the steps ended and she came to a wide landing, revealing an imposing sight. A large wooden arc towered ten meters in the air, numerous kanji of different sizes carved along its supporting columns. Warm, orange light was illuminating somewhere from behind the arc like a setting sun. And in front of that arc stood a large man, bigger than any other person she had ever seen in her entire life. She was hesitating to even call him human; he was ten times Ryu's size, his gigantic figure blocked the light coming from behind the arc and his presence emitted an intimidating aura that not even Anna possessed. His large, brawny body was in the firm posture of a sentinel and his arms were resting on the biggest wooden sword Sharona had ever beheld. The weapon was pointed downwards and its tip had drilled a hole in the ground under the weight of the man's hands.

Sharona made several quick and extremely accurate calculations inside her head. Whatever this thing was, it was **tough**. Even if she had any means to attack it, she probably wouldn't even make it flinch. Also, the expression on this… man's face didn't speak of a very friendly and chatty person. Talking her way pass him also seemed like a lost cause. But she felt she couldn't back out now, not after she had gotten so far. Her instincts told her that what she was seeking was beyond that gate.

But the guard was standing in her way.

Sharona decided not to waste any more time and strode with an even pace towards the giant. She stopped right in front of him, the shadow of his colossal figure covering her completely. The woman raised her head and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Let me pass." She ordered with a firm voice.

His eyes: two glowing coals, staring down at her menacingly.

"I cannot." The guardian spoke with a voice that seemed stunningly familiar. Sharona couldn't see the man's face due to the thick shadow obscuring it, but the voice was raising some serious questions about his identity. It wouldn't have been strange, considering where she was now, though this body seemed… actually, why not? Even people could take different forms in their own heads if they wanted to. However, Sharona wanted to ascertain if that possibility was true.

"Who are you?" She asked firmly, not letting an ounce of fear creep into her voice.

The colossus answered in a mighty voice:

"Bokuto no Ryu."

Sharona snickered. It was so predictable and cliché that she couldn't suppress her laughter. Why did she even bother doubting it? There was no way someone else but Ryu and his own mental projections or emotional manifestations could exist inside his head. It wasn't like she was dealing with a possession, so the only foreign entity here was herself.

"I've been thinking about that possibility since I laid my eyes on that sword." She smiled contently and folded her arms. "However, you don't quite look like the Ryu I remembered."

"The old Bokuto no Ryu has retired. I am his replacement." The colossus answered in a firm, vibrating voice that made the floor tremble slightly.  
Replacement? Sharona held back a snicker at the giant's choice of words. It was interesting that a psychological projection like him wielded a 'mind', even a vocabulary that actually allowed him to engage in an intelligent human conversation, a fact that contradicted Sharona's adopted belief that the insides of a person's psyche were a turbulent, formless chaos. She should have known better than to come to conclusions about the essence of matters that she had no understanding of.

"Replacement?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"A temporary replacement." The being added.

A cold wave swept across Sharona's body. She didn't like the sound of those words one bit.

"What do you mean?" She asked with a slightly shaken composure.

"Bokuto no Ryu's mind is deteriorating very quickly because his body can't sustain it. It has already went beyond the point of restoration. Large sections of his psyche have fallen apart and right now even the core is collapsing."

Shit! All that time Sharona and Ryu had been wasting trudging through the forest with the poison coursing through his body has taken its token on Ryu's life. Sharona realized that every single moment was of vital importance right now. She shouldn't be standing around here chit-chatting with this man.

"You have to let me pass! I have the means to bring him back to life!" The woman insisted feverishly.

"It is pointless! No matter how much Furyoku you pour in his body, it will not be enough to keep his mind and soul in this rotting carcass. He was doomed the moment his core started collapsing."

"I don't give a rat's ass about your doubt! I'm not going back after I came this far without doing everything in my powers to get him back!" Sharona snapped angrily and strode forward. As she was about to walk pass the guardian, he raised his weapon and roared:

"I said that **it's** **useless**!"

He swung the sword with the size of a mast upon her head. Though in every other case something that big and heavy would have smashed every single bone in her body, that didn't happen now. The sword was broken in two six inches before it reached her head by an unknown force. To make the effect even more dramatic, the sword blazed up in fire that crawled up the blade. The giant's eyes were wide in amazement. Sharona's eyes were just as large and amazed.

"How the hell!?" The colossus stared at his broken sword in disbelief, completely ignoring the flames that had reached his hand and were spreading up his arm. He gazed at Sharona.

"Maybe… you should go." He said as the flames overtook his torso. The colossus was not flinching a muscle, it seemed that he didn't feel any pain. Sharona shook her head and tried to ignore the sight of this burning giant that couldn't care less that he was being scorched alive. She turned around and hurried through the arc, entering the light.

The light disappeared. She was at the top of a hill, surrounded by dry black bushes and dying vegetation. A narrow stone stairway was meandering down a small valley, where the decay seemed to have spread even further. She descended down that path, careful not to trip on the cracked, broken up steps. Thorns and bushes were scratching her naked feet, the air was still and had the taste of evaporating life, of some unknown plague that had struck this place dead. Dying cherries trees stuck out of the ground like gallows, the ruined foundations of strange buildings and unknown Japanese houses were scattered around like graves. Nature itself here was murdered brutally by a scourge, the land was left lifeless as the result of an apocalypse going rampant. The sky was painted gray, not a single bird was coursing through it.

The path was rolling down the desolate valley, entering in a place that resembled a town. It was abandoned. The buildings were falling apart, as if no one had ever lived in them. She stared at the distance and saw a hill ascending towards the skies. On top of it flickered a small orange light. Sharona hurried towards that hill.

As she moved closer and closer to the hill, she noticed that her environment was steadily changing. The grass was becoming greener, the trees were blooming and sending soft petals everywhere, a light breeze was blowing through Sharona's hair. The atmosphere here felt radically different that in the other part of this valley: it was tranquil, soothing, warm, like in the early days of spring. Even the colors here seemed to be brighter. It was as if she had entered a dream. The last remaining shard of a happy illusion that was mercilessly being crushed by the invading reality.

Sharona came to another stone stairway that lead towards the summit of the hill where the light was shining from. She ran hastily up the stairs, she felt faint and out of breath when she made it to the top. Sharona moved a stray bang of hair from her face and explored her surroundings. The place she had stumbled upon appeared to be some sort of a temple, probably a shrine dedicated to the dead. She had seen such shrines many times when she was in Japan. It wasn't too surprising to see such a construction in Ryu's inner world, seeing as a man like him would hold a strong fondness towards his roots. Lush green grass carpet covered the surroundings of the shrine, spreading to the edges of the hill from where the panorama of the dead valley burst upon Sharona's gaze. The ground was strewn with small flowers that gave out their sweet fragrance in the air. The gentle breeze was rippling through Sharona's hair ever so quietly as she walked towards the end of the hill, where a man sat on the ground, staring in the distance.

There was no doubt that it was Ryu. It was the same stooped posture, the same broad back, the same raven black hair. Even his trademark wooden sword was lying on the grass behind him (hopefully, it was a normal-sized sword). He was just as naked as Sharona was, but she didn't find his nudity physically arousing like a woman would find a man. His forms had an ethereal, pure, almost divine aura around them, there was no way his nakedness could incite indecent thoughts. Ryu slowly turned around and stood up.

She beheld him. His face was tranquil, it radiated something soft, soothing, gentle, almost childishly innocent. There were no physical changes in his features, but the expression seemed different. Sharona didn't remember seeing Ryu ever being so… unrestrained. Society always placed inhibitors on people's behavior, remodeling their personality at some extent along with it. Different people accepted these inhibitors, these so conveniently called 'social norms and standards', differently, which was why some people fit in differently in human community. The people who fought these standards and strived to retain the basic integrity of their individuality were loners, they could never accept society completely, nor it could accept them. Others were able to accept their inhibitors as datum, as a factor that was an indivisible part of their character and gist of human beings and they managed to socialize, slowly and imperceptibly molding their essence into something radically differing from what it used to be. It was now, when every single muscle on his face was loosened in pleasant placidity, did Sharona realize how much Ryu was hiding from the outside world.  
"You are Ryu, am I right?" Sharona checked, just in case.

"Yeah." The man answered.

"You remember me, right?"

"Of course I do." Ryu smiled. "I'm a little surprised that you'd go as far as to some here."

"I couldn't just let you go, you know…" Sharona muttered.

"I know you couldn't. Because you'd never be able to forgive yourself for that, am I wrong?"

His smile faded away a little. "But still, I don't know if I want to go back."

Sharona's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What are you babbling about? Of course you'll come back with me! You can't just… give up on your life and die when there's still so much you're leaving behind."

"I've been thinking… Maybe it will just be better if I leave it that way. Unfinished."

"Are you trying to run away from everything, Ryu?" Sharona asked in a disappointed voice. "Is death your excuse to turn your back on everything? Your friends, your dreams, your achievements, all the personal responsibilities that come with them; you're letting all of them slip away?"

"It's natural that you wouldn't fully understand me." Ryu tilted his head a little. "Don't misunderstand: I value everything I have achieved in this life. I treasure every person who has lend me his shoulder for me to rest on, everyone who has cheered me up, encouraged me to keep on chasing my goals, to be myself. I will never do anything to betray their trust or to let down on their expectations."

"Then come back! If you can choose between your friends and your peace, between life and death, why do you pick the grave? Why does dying appeal to you that much?"

"Because there's no point for me to go back… I'm a useless, powerless man who can't do anything to amend his mistakes."

Sharona was stunned. That man was acting so tragically suicidal because he still felt guilty about incapacitating her from fighting! To think that someone as bulky and masculine as him could be such an agonizing drama queen! She noted to herself for the nth time never to judge a book by its cover. And in the current case, Ryu turned out to be a novel with thick covers and very soft pages.

"Well, it's not like the girls can't do anything without me." Sharona remarked with slight irritation. "They're not babies. Even though they lack my strategic skills and without me are as organized as a headless chicken, they'll manage enough not to die on the arena."

"But you want to be with them, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but there are things that are just… outside my grasp." And this is a thing that I must also finally learn as well, Sharona thought to herself. "Not everything works out the way it was planned. Unexpected events, though trivial, can affect our lives in short or long terms. I always do my best to calculate every single detail, to measure every risk before I make a decision, but sometimes this can't be done… I just have to make that important step."

She peered at him with a small smirk, like an adult would look at a stubborn child. "You know perfectly well that, too. It's just the way life is."

Ryu slowly raised his arms. He stretched them out over his head, then lowered them, turning around to span the blue sky above him, the lush green grass, the flowing pink petals, the idyllic silence that reigned on the summit of the hill: it was a small chunk of Eden itself.

"Look around... There's another place that looks a lot, if not exactly like this one… in the real world. I used to hang around a lot there. I felt at peace there. That hill, along with the temple, the tree, the grand view that unfolded from the summit… I called that spot "The Best Place."

He made a small pause, just to get Sharona's attention. It didn't seem like he was aiming for a dramatic effect, but it happened nonetheless. "Some time afterwards, I met Yoh. He… convinced me that I had to find another "Best Place", because I was disturbing the dead spirits there with my egoistic behavior. There was no mistake that I was being selfish in trying to claim that place as mine when it was created for other… souls to be inhabited by. I changed three "Best Places", but not one of them could match the first, original one. No matter how hard I tried, I could never forget about it. Now… it seems that this hill has come to haunt me again, even in death." He lowered his arms. "This place isn't real. Being here has never felt so good before… so soothing, so calm, so… amiable. Almost as if it wants me to lie down on the grass, fall asleep and never wake up again. There is no way it can be real."

"Then why are you still wasting your time here?! If you know that it's just a dream, why don't you shake it off? Don't you want to go out and return to your real "Best Place"?"

"I… don't know. I… just thought… what if I stayed here?... Maybe there's a chance that I won't die."

"You will. There's no way you can ignore that wave of decay that's drawing closer. It will consume this hill, your "Best Place", and you will die. You'll disappear along with that fleeting dream of yours!"

"Maybe… that would be for the best…"

Sharona bit her lower lip in frustration. The way things were going, Ryu might really not leave. But why!? How exactly was his death going to redeem his mistake? What kind of guilt-driven logic made him think that his self-castigation would make things better? He was just selfishly trying to alleviate his own pain, not helping to fix his mistake. Sharona wouldn't let Ryu die with the thought that he had achieved some sort of spirit purification.

"You're doing this because you think you'll make things better? You think you'll amend that way? Well guess what: you're dead wrong, buddy! Your self-righteous death won't change a fuckin thing; it will ravage my conscience and burden me with the guilt that I actually squabbled with you over a stupid sprained ankle _that_ _hard_ to make you **considere** **suiciding**! Did you even think for a millisecond how broken Millie would be when she found out that you died? Or did you take in mind the agony all of your friends would go through? And did you even think about _my_ _feelings_ about it? Did you even think about _apologizing_ to me for what you did before killing yourself?! You are acting like a spoiled crybaby over something so trivial and idiotic it's not worth mentioning a second time and you want me to forgive you for that? You're not the man I thought you were, Bokuto no Ryu, and I will never forgive you if you die on me after I came all the way here to save your damn ass!"

Ryu stood there dumbfounded, looking somewhere ahead of him. His sight was blurred and vacant, as if a complicated subconscious mechanism was put in motion inside his head. Ten seconds later, his gaze focused on her.

"So I was wrong, after all… Even in death…" He uttered.

A gust of decay wafted on the wind, its horrible stench making Sharona's nose wrinkle. She looked down: the grass was slowly losing its color and vitality, dying away in front of her own eyes.

"This place will fall apart soon. Take my hand!" She exclaimed and stepped forward, stretching her hand.

The crucial moment was now. There was nothing more she could do to help him. It was up to him whether he would live of die.

Ryu didn't hesitate even for a second. He leaped forth, just as the sky above their heads cracked like a broken mirror, and grabbed Sharona's hand.

Light engulfed them.

* * *

Fifteen seconds had passed since Sharona started the Furyoku transfusion.

The pink fire under her palms died away. Several lonely sparkles leaped from her fingers and disappeared.

Sharona was struggling to breathe. Sweat had broken out on her forehead, stray locks of hair were stuck on her face. Blood was flowing under her hands where she was pressing Ryu's chest. It wasn't his blood.

She raised her hands and looked at them. Two deep gashes were cut deep in the flesh, from them blood was gushing out profusely. She could barely move her fingers.

Sharona then stared at her patient. The poison in his wound was disappearing, his skin was slowly regaining its original color. She smiled to herself in content: her efforts were not at all in vain. Though she couldn't close off the wound, at least the poison in the man's body was neutralized.

She looked at herself. Her dress had undergone a radical transformation in its appearance over the last hour. Dirt, blood and sweat were mixed in a substance that would make any housewife recoil and pucker up in revolt. She dared not imagine what her face might look like after carrying a man the size of a lumberjack through the forest, her face black and blue and scratched all over by sharp pine branches. Then she thought about the reaction of her friends when they saw her in this condition. They'd probably blame Ryu for it again, she thought with a small smile. The poor guy had suffered so much and it didn't seem like it was going to end for him very soon.

"Well, no one said life was a walk in the part to begin with." Sharona said to herself as she made an effort to pull the man up. After a minute of fussing about and trying to bring him on his feet while carrying him on her shoulder, the couple started trudging on their way. Ryu was half-conscious, so he had some control over his legs, otherwise Sharona's spine wouldn't have bore the weight of Ryu's body. As they walked, the thick branch roof over their heads started parting and more and more sunlight was illuminating their faces. It wasn't long till they went out on the forest and the village came in their sight.

Sharona's tremendous exertions had taken its heavy toll on her whole body. She could barely move her legs, she was going to pass out any moment now. She felt her mind giving out, a black cloud settling over her sight and her muscles losing control. The woman groaned out when her legs bended.

"Enra Enra…" Sharona moaned.

Her spirit companion appeared.

"I did my best to pull him out… but I can't keep going anymore… Call Yoh… Call the girls…"

She reeled forward and fell prostrate. Ryu fell along with her and his massive arm pressed down on her back.

"Call for help…" She whispered a moment before she blacked out.

* * *

**From the Author:** So much with this chapter. Hope you liked it!


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